Colour Screen Chip Cuts Power Drain

Seiko Epson says that it has developed a color STN display control LSI that is capable of displaying 65,536 colors while consuming very little power. The new driver, named the S1D15G17 and aimed primarily at the European mobile phone market, is already shipping in sample quantities.

Epson successfully scaled down the chip by employing a quarter-micron design rule, the state of the art for a high-voltage wafer process. Moreover, with the power supply circuits, frame memory, segment driver, and common driver all integrated into a single chip, this driver enables the display of up to 132 by 132 dots. The driver consumes a mere 500 fea of power when 65,536 colors are displayed. The addition of the new product gives Epson an even more extensive lineup of color STN display control LSIs for mobile phones, helping ensure that Epson will maintain a firm grip on the top share of the color STN display control LSI market.

The new product is scheduled to enter volume production in September 2003. Production volume, which will start out at 300,000 units per month, is expected to grow to 2,000,000 units per month next year."

Posted to the site on 17th July 2003